


Your Beating Heart

by jaydenbell



Category: Glee
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-19
Updated: 2011-07-19
Packaged: 2017-10-21 13:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/225586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaydenbell/pseuds/jaydenbell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will adopted Beth at birth. More and more, Noah spends time with them. And one time, Rachel happens to be there with all of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Beating Heart

**Author's Note:**

> fill for a prompt at the puckleberry meme: Will adopts Beth. Puck goes to see her, help out from time to time. Rachel sees him with the baby once and it makes her heart warm immeasurably.

When he gets Puck’s text, he smiles. Will was glad that Puck had taken so much interest in Beth’s life after he adopted her. The boy was always welcome in his home. He replied to the message, and was answering the door five minutes later.

“Hey sweetheart,” Noah smiled as he reached out to scoop the baby from Will’s arms. “How are you today, precious?” he cooed down at her.

Will smiled as he shut the door. “She’s a happy little girl, as always.”

“Of course she is,” he smiled, sitting down on the couch and laying her on his lap. It had been a bit awkward at first, coming to his teacher’s house and watching him raise his baby. But after a while, it was something he looked forward to. They would sit around and talk about sports or school or old video games, and talked about Beth as she grew bigger each day.

Once in a while, he babysat, giving him an excuse for some bonding time while Will got through work meetings and late nights of grading tests without as much fuss. In the last four months, they had grown really close.

The doorbell rang early into the afternoon and Will stood to answer it. “That’s probably Rachel; she said she wanted to come pick up the homework she missed while she was sick,” he said as he headed to the door. Puck gave a noncommittal nod as he smiled down at the baby babbling and gurgling happily on his lap.

Rachel stepped inside and followed him to his home office. “It’s quiet in here,” she noted. “Is Beth napping?”

“Actually,” he started to reply.

“Hey, Will,” came a voice from the next room (and yeah, Puck called his teacher by his name now, it made things more comfortable for the both of them), “you’re running low on diapers, man.”

He walked into the nursery, Rachel on his heels. “I know. I’m going shopping today.”

“Noah,” Rachel tilted her head. “I didn’t know you were here.”

He scooped the baby up off the changing table and shrugged. “Came to see Beth.” He stepped toward Will. “I can keep an eye on her for a while if you want to go shopping now,” he offered.

“That would,” he nodded tiredly, like a single dad who didn’t sleep much and couldn’t turn down an offer for the short respite, “I appreciate that, Puck.” He nodded between the two of them as he headed out of the room.

“Could I,” Rachel started quickly before he was out the door, “I mean, would you mind if I stayed too?”

He looked at Noah, who didn’t appear to have feelings about it one way or another. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

He smiled and stepped past Rachel and down the hall, the sound of the front door echoing behind him a moment later.

Puck stepped closer to her. “You wanna hold her?”

She shrugged and ducked her head sheepishly for a moment before looking back up at him. “I don’t know how,” she admitted. “I can’t remember the last time I held a baby.”

He snuggled Beth against his chest with one arm and reached out and took Rachel’s hand, leading her back into the living room. He told her to sit down on the couch and knelt in front of her. Carefully supporting the tiny little girl, he helped Rachel guide her arms into a comfortable position to hold a baby. When she was in Rachel’s arms and Noah had completely let go, she smiled and sat back into the couch. “She’s so beautiful,” Rachel smiled down at her, awestruck. “She looks so much like Quinn,” she said before she had a chance to think about it.

But when she looked over at him where he had moved to sit next to her, he was smiling softly. “Yeah, she does.”

“Does she ever…” she wasn’t sure how to say it without intruding, leaving her with the option to only let her words drift off.

“She comes here,” he nodded. “Never when I’m here. But Will said she babysits for him, and that sometimes she comes over to spend time with him and Beth.” He bit at the inside of his cheek and shrugged. “She’s havin’ a hard time with all this, ya know. She had Beth all to herself for nine months, and then had to give her up. I think it’ll be a long time before the pain from that will go away.”

Rachel swallowed thickly. “What about you?”

He nodded, sadness sweeping over his face. “It was the right thing to do. Neither of us could have given her what she needed and deserved. In some ways, I wish I hadn’t known who she ended up with, to just cut the pain off right there, but in others, I’m kinda glad it was Will; I get to see her and know that she’s got a great life now.” He stroked the baby’s foot as she drifted to sleep in Rachel’s arms. “I like knowing that she’ll actually know who we are and that we love her so much.”

“She’s pretty lucky,” Rachel nodded. “And so are you, for having a great, if not a little dysfunctional, family.”

Just then, Beth started wiggling and fussing. Rachel’s face filled with worry as she looked back up at Noah.

He laughed and reached over to adjust Rachel and Beth so they were both comfortable again. He lifted her elbow with his fingertips so that Beth’s head was snuggled against her chest and guided her arm to slide more under her back. She stopped fussing and closed her eyes again, nuzzling her cheek against Rachel’s shirt. “She likes to feel your heart beating,” he explained softly. “And all babies like to snuggle against breasts; it’s comforting.” When she looked up at him, he smirked. “What? It is.”

She tossed him a look that said she caught what he’d said. He shrugged. But then she shifted and adjusted the little girl a bit so she was closer to her heart. Beth was fast asleep.

“You’re a natural,” he grinned.

She felt her face heating up under his praise. “Thanks.”

He settled into the couch a little deeper and reached for the remote control on the cushion next to him. Clicking the tv on, he put on a Disney movie that was in the DVD player and dropped his head back. When Rachel looked up at him questioningly, he shook his head.

“My girl ain’t watching trash. I can do that on my own time.”

Rachel snorted at his honesty. Then leaned over a little so her shoulder was tucked against his chest. Noah instinctively wrapped his arm around her. When Beth started wiggling again, he looked down at her. “Heart sped up, didn’t it?”

“How did you get a lie detector for a kid?” she raised an eyebrow up at him, a light flush running up her face, coloring her cheeks softly.

He chuckled. Sinking down into the couch, he hugged her a little closer to his chest, reaching his fingers down a bit to gently brush over Beth’s delicate face. “Mine did too,” he told her quietly.


End file.
